60 Moments: No. 37, Dewayne Wises catch secures Mark Buehrles perfect game

Publish date: 2024-05-18

While we wait for baseball to return, Joe Posnanski will count down his top 60 moments in baseball history — think of it as a companion piece to The Baseball 100 — with a series of essays on the most memorable, remarkable and joyous scenes of the game. This project will not contain more words than “Moby Dick,” but we hope you enjoy it.

Dewayne Wise’s catch secures Mark Buehrle’s perfect game
July 23, 2009

Before we get to our moment of the day, you know what we should do? Right: Let’s look back at every perfect game of the Live Ball Era and see whether there was a great defensive play that saved the game! Who’s with me?

Well, wait, before we do that — this might be a good moment for some introspection. What is wrong with me? You might know this: Earlier this year, I counted down the 100 greatest baseball players ever. That thing ended up being almost 300,000 words, which is like three or four or five books. It left me looking a bit like Beetle Bailey after getting beat up.

When that ended, I told myself that with this series, counting down the 60 greatest moments in baseball history, I would take it easy, chill, have some fun, write a few light and short essays on fun baseball moments. That really was the idea.

So why am I going back to research every single perfect game of the Live Ball Era? Why can’t I just write some words about how cool that Dewayne Wise catch was and move on, maybe go outside and take a walk or listen to the new Jason Isbell or start a screenplay or something?

Anyway, here are all the perfect games and the best defensive plays made to save them.

Charlie Robertson, April 30, 1922, White Sox at Tigers, 90 pitches

There doesn’t seem to have been a defensive play worth talking about in this game, though some of the newspaper reports do mention the foul ball Johnny Mostil caught for the final out. The main thing that the papers said was that the perfect game put Robertson in the “baseball hall of fame.” This was before the Baseball Hall of Fame — capital letters — was conceived, much less built. The original idea of the baseball hall of fame seemed to be not as a place for the greatest players but instead for players who did a singular great thing.

Some of this lingers on. There are those who think Roger Maris or Don Larsen should be in the Baseball Hall of Fame for their big moment. But, alas, they seem to have lost the argument.

Anyway, what people wanted to talk about after the game was how the Tigers protested the game and submitted a number of baseballs that were smeared with something resembling crude oil. Their protest was denied and Robertson became the first pitcher in the Live Ball Era to throw a perfect game.

“The only thing I had on the ball,” Robertson said, “was control.”

Don Larsen, Oct. 8, 1956, Dodgers at Yankees (World Series Game 5), 97 pitches

The most famous play in this one was Mickey Mantle’s running catch on a fly ball hit by Gil Hodges. It has been called one of Mantle’s greatest defensive plays — but looking back at the film, it seems like it’s remembered more for the situation than for the catch itself. Mantle did have to run a pretty long way to get to the ball and he did have to make a backhand catch. It was definitely a good play. But when I see people put it among the greatest catches ever, I admit that I roll my eyes a little bit.

Jim Bunning, June 21, 1964, Phillies at Mets, 90 pitches

In the fifth inning, the Mets’ Jesse Gonder ripped a hard ground ball in the hole between first and second. Phillies second baseman Tony Taylor dived, fielded the ball, and from his knees threw out Gonder. Bunning became the first pitcher in more than 40 years to throw a regular-season perfect game.

But then they started becoming a lot more common.

Sandy Koufax, Sept. 9, 1965, Cubs at Dodgers, 113 pitches

This was drama-free. Koufax was overwhelming and the Cubs were overwhelmed. The closest the Cubs got to a hit that day was when Byron Brown hit a line drive to center. It was well struck, but Willie Davis had little trouble as he caught it waist-high.

Catfish Hunter, May 8, 1968, Twins at Athletics, 107 pitches

This one was also pretty much drama-free. Third baseman Sal Bando did pull in a hard-hit grounder from Bob Allison in the fifth inning, but that was about it. Hunter also got three hits in the game. And when it ended, A’s owner Charlie Finley ripped up Hunter’s contract and gave him a $5,000 bonus for the perfecto. That’s how baseball was in 1968. The owners controlled everything and they expected bouquets of gratitude when they showed even the slightest bit of generosity.

Len Barker, May 15, 1981, Blue Jays at Cleveland, 103 pitches

This was one of the transcendent sports moments of my youth. More than a decade has passed between perfect games — we haven’t had anything close to that long a drought since. In fact, we are right now in the midst of the longest perfect-game drought since Barker.

That day, Barker threw 75 percent curveballs and got great defense behind him all night from Cleveland. There were really four game-saving plays. Shortstop Tom Veryzer made a tough play on a chopper behind the mound. Third baseman Toby Harrah dived into the seats to catch a foul ball. And, most significantly, Duane Kuiper made two terrific plays, one to his left and another to his right.

Mike Witt, Sept. 30, 1984, Angels at Rangers, 94 pitches

There really wasn’t any superior defensive work necessary here — Witt thoroughly dominated the game. Texas’ Larry Parrish did hit a fly ball to the warning track, but Angels right-fielder Mike Brown settled under it and made an easy play.

Tom Browning, Sept. 16, 1988, Dodgers at Reds, 102 pitches

Browning breezed; the Dodgers never came close to getting a hit. There were two relatively hard-hit balls toward third base that Chris Sabo fielded, but you wouldn’t put a star next to either one of those plays in the scorebook. This one really couldn’t have been much simpler. Browning never got into a three-ball count.

Dennis Martínez, July 28, 1991, Expos at Dodgers, 95 pitches

There wasn’t a defensive play that stood out in this one — the foul-line was probably the game saver. The last batter of the game, Dodger Chris Gwynn, hit a line drive to left that went just foul. He then hit the fly ball that ended the perfect game. And then Martínez broke down in tears.

Of note: Ron Hassey became the first catcher to be behind the plate for two perfect games — he also caught Len Barker’s game.

Kenny Rogers, July 28, 1994, Angels at Rangers, 98 pitches

Finally, we have a great defensive play to talk about. And this one really was a gem. In the ninth inning, the Angels’ Rex Hudler hit a looping line drive to right-center. Rusty Greer had a very long run — he was shaded to left — and he had to dive to get to the ball. He caught it in full stretch. It is one of the three best defensive plays anyone has made to preserve a perfect game.

“When Rusty made that catch,” Rogers said, “I thought, ‘Somebody wants me to do it.’”

David Wells, May 17, 1998, Twins at Yankees, 120 pitches

There was a time in the 1990s when I would constantly confuse Kenny Rogers and David Wells. This didn’t help.

Chuck Knoblauch was the defensive hero. In the eighth inning, the Twins’ Ron Coomer hit a short-hop line drive toward second. Knoblauch was able to reach right, knock the ball down, pick up the ball and throw out Coomer easily. “You just try to stay as low as possible,” Knoblauch said. “It was a 50-50 play, just a reaction kind of thing.”

David Cone, July 18, 1999, Expos at Yankees, 88 pitches

Chuck Knoblauch again came to the rescue … and again he did it in the eighth inning. This time Montreal’s José Vidro slashed a hard grounder up the middle. Knoblach raced over, backhanded the ball and fired from the grass to get Vidro by a step. It was a particularly perilous play for two reasons. One, the grass was wet — the game had been rain-delayed for 33 minutes — so it was hard to get good footing.

The second reason was that 1999 was the year that Knoblauch’s throwing yips began. He had already made more than a dozen throwing errors by July. But he never hesitated on this play. “In that situation, you’re just thinking about saving something,” he said. “You’re not really nervous.”

Randy Johnson, May 18, 2004, Diamondbacks at Braves, 117 pitches

Atlanta batters really didn’t have any hard-hit balls all night. The closest they got to a hit was when Jesse Garcia led off the game by pushing a bunt to the first-base side. Diamondbacks first baseman Shea Hillenbrand fielded the ball and then it was a race between him and Garcia to the bag. Garcia tried a headfirst dive, but Hillenbrand was able to get down the tag for the out.

Johnson, at age 40, became the oldest man to throw a perfect game.

Dallas Braden, May 9, 2010, Rays at Athletics, 109 pitches

The Mother’s Day perfecto! This was the second time in a year that the Rays had a perfect game thrown against them — we’ll get to the other one in a minute — and while there were no hit-saving plays, there was a defensive gem when A’s third baseman Kevin Kouzmanoff pulled in Carlos Peña’s foul popup as he was falling into the team’s dugout.

As for the closest thing to a hit? Evan Longoria did get down a bunt that would have been a hit had it not rolled foul.

Roy Halladay, May 29, 2010, Phillies at Marlins, 115 pitches

In the eighth inning, Jorge Cantú smashed a hard ground ball to third and Phillies third baseman Juan Castro had to do a little bit of extra work to field it and throw Cantú out. It wasn’t that tough a play but it was the closest thing to a hit for the Phillies.

Then again, the real saver in this game was home-plate umpire Mike DiMuro, who gave Halladay the corner on a three-ball count to Chris Coghlin to lead off the game and kept giving him corners the rest of the night. To give Halladay the corner, as I wrote then, is to give Phil Ivey pocket aces. Phil Ivey is a professional poker player. That meant something in 2010.

Philip Humber, April 21, 2012, White Sox at Mariners, 96 pitches

Dustin Ackley hit the hardest ball of the day, a long drive to right field. White Sox outfielder Alex Ríos had to jump a little to pull it in.

The key moment of the game was not a defensive play but, instead, a near walk. Humber fell behind 3-0 against the last batter of the game, Brendan Ryan. Humber worked his way back into a full count and then threw a slider that broke a foot outside the strike zone and got away from catcher A.J. Pierzynski.

Ryan began to swing and thought he held up. He started to go to first base with the walk. But home-plate umpire Brian Runge immediately signaled that Ryan had swung, and so Pierzynski raced over, got the ball, and threw to first to complete the strikeout and complete the perfecto. Replays are inconclusive about whether Ryan swung, but you have to say that Runge did not hesitate. He made the call quickly and confidently.

Matt Cain, June 13, 2012, Astros at Giants, 125 pitches

There were a couple of excellent plays in this one. In the sixth inning, Houston’s Chris Snyder drilled a long fly ball to left-center — it might have been gone in another park. Giants left fielder Melky Cabrera made it back to the wall and made a nice catch.

But the real gem came in the next inning when Jordan Schafer mashed a long fly ball to right-center. The Giants’ Gregor Blanco chased it down and made a diving catch on the warning track. It, like Greer’s catch, is one of the three best plays to preserve a perfect game.

Félix Hernández, August 15, 2012, Rays at Mariners, 113 pitches

This was the third time in three years that the Tampa Bay Rays were perfected, and that’s a pretty impressive feat. Hernández didn’t need any extra defensive help to get it — he pretty much dominated from start to finish.

But like others who have thrown perfect games, King Félix might have gotten some much-needed help from the home-plate umpire. Rob Drake gave Hernández wide latitude; this infuriated Rays manager Joe Maddon, who was tossed from the game in the seventh.

Mark Buehrle actually came close to throwing a perfect game in 2007. He threw a no-hitter against the Rangers. Texas’ only base runner was Sammy Sosa, who drew a walk. Buehrle promptly picked off Sosa and ended up facing the minimum 27 batters anyway. I thought this was a rarity — facing the minimum 27 batters while giving up a hit. But, in fact, it’s not all that uncommon. According to Baseball-Reference, it has happened sixty-five times.*

*When I asked former big-league pitcher Brandon McCarthy how many times he thought this happened, he immediately said, “80?” So maybe this isn’t as impressive as I first thought.

The most incredible of these face-the-minimum games have to be:

• John Candelaria in 1982 against Atlanta allowed four hits but still faced the minimum because he got three double plays (two by Rufino Linares) and he picked off Rafael Ramírez.

• In 2014, Arizona’s Josh Collmenter gave up three hits and faced the minimum because he got three double plays — two on the ground and one when Brayan Peña doubled and was thrown out trying to advance to third on a sac fly.

• In 1946, Orval Grove gave up three hits and a walk and a fifth baserunner reached on an error. They were erased with five double plays.

• In 1989, Bob Milacki gave up three hits and two walks and got through it with four double plays and a caught stealing.

OK, again, why do I keep going down these rabbit holes?

Buehrle almost threw that perfect game in 2007, and then he did throw one on July 23, 2009. Let’s say a couple of words about Buehrle. He was an excellent pitcher who won 214 games and compiled 60 WAR in his career, which puts him ahead of several Hall of Famers. But the larger point for me is that when he was flowing, when he had his stuff, it was “Masterpiece Theatre.”

Why? He worked so absurdly fast, and he threw strikes, and he truly was a fielding marvel so his best games transformed into blurs of easy groundouts and routine fly balls and one-hoppers back to the mound. They would be over so fast you would think, “What happened?”

On his perfect day, Buehrle gave up several hard-hit fly balls. For some reason, the ball wasn’t carrying all that well at U.S. Cellular Field.

And then the great moment came. In the ninth inning, with nobody out, Tampa Bay’s Gabe Kapler smashed a long fly ball to center. Dewayne Wise, the White Sox’s 31-year-old center fielder, took off running.

Wise was a utilityman and, let’s face it, journeyman. He was drafted by Cincinnati in 1997, taken away by Toronto in the Rule 5 draft, he signed with Atlanta, got waived, was selected by Detroit, got released, re-signed with Detroit, left, went back to Cincinnati as a free agent and finally picked up with the White Sox. He had played for 18 different professional teams by that point.

His problem was his bat. Wise couldn’t hit much but he stuck around because he could really run, and he could really go get the ball. This, then, was his moment.

Wise got a great jump on Kapler’s ball and took off at full speed. He was something to watch as he chased the ball to the wall. And then he got there and, without slowing down to ready himself, he took off, jumped high and raised his glove above the wall. He caught the ball in his webbing. Then as he bounced off the wall, the ball was jolted out of his glove and as he fell to the ground, he caught the ball with his bare hand and raised it up for everyone to see.

It was, Wise would say, the best catch he’d ever made in his life.

“I knew I had to get there,” he said. “I told myself, ‘Whatever it takes.’ If I had to run through the wall to try and catch the ball, I had to do it. … It was an unbelievable feeling,” he said. “Getting off the ground and having that ball in my hand. That was every outfielder’s dream, to rob a home run, in this situation, with a perfect game on the line.”

It’s the greatest play ever made to save a perfect game … and one of the greatest plays period. Buerhle got the last two outs and got his perfect game. He bought everyone on the team a present. I assume he bought Wise something extra special.

After the game, Buehrle was with his wife and infant daughter, Brooklyn, when he got a congratulatory call from President Barack Obama. Buehrle spoke for all perfect-game pitchers when he said: “Hello? Thank you, sir. I’m still in shock.”

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(Photo: Dennis Wierzbicki / Getty Images)

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60 Moments: No. 37, Dewayne Wises catch secures Mark Buehrles perfect game